purdue owl apa literature review example

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APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition)

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In-Text Citations

Resources on using in-text citations in APA style

Reference List

Resources on writing an APA style reference list, including citation formats

Other APA Resources

How to Do a Literature Review: Resources

• Introduction
• Where to Begin
• Organization & Writing

Video Tutorials

Sample Papers

• Sample APA Literature Review Contains explanations and tips. From the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
• Example APA Paper from Purdue OWL Example of an APA communications paper with a literature review inside it. From the Purdue Online Writing Lab.

Online Resources

• PDF Literature Review Guide A succinct guide to literature reviews, including a short sample of a literature review.
• Writing a Literature Review A basic guide to writing a literature review. From the University of Guelph.
• Literature Reviews Very detailed guide to writing literature reviews. From the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• Literature Review Tutorial From American University.
• Why is Writing a Literature Review so Hard?
• Literature Reviews: OWL Purdue Graduate Workshop
• Social Work Literature Review Guidelines: OWL Purdue Writing Lab

Books and Ebooks

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• Next: HELP! >>
• Last Updated: Mar 4, 2021 10:44 AM
• URL: https://libguides.mcny.edu/literaturereview

Library & Information Services

Literature reviews: example.

• Back to Lovejoy Library
• Literature Reviews
• Why are Literature Reviews Important
• Parts & Organization of a Literature Review

Literature Review Example Paper

APA Literature Review Example

Purdue University Writing Lab (OWL)

• << Previous: Parts & Organization of a Literature Review
• Next: Resources >>
• Last Updated: Sep 9, 2021 3:29 PM
• URL: https://libguides.siue.edu/litreview

• USU Library

Conducting a Literature Review in Education: Citing Sources

• Key Resources
• Lit Review Overview
• Search Alerts
• Managing Sources
• Citing Sources

Citing Sources in APA

According to APA 7th Edition guidelines you need to find out as much information as you can about who created and published a source and when. You communicate this to your audience through in-text and Reference List citations which your readers can look up themselves.

Recommended sources for help with APA style guidelines:

• APAstyle.org Free online help directly from the American Psychological Association. Scroll down to "Quick Answers" section for help with references and formatting.
• Purdue OWL APA Formatting & Style Guide Free APA help online from Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL). Provides examples and instructions for commonly cited materials, as well as a sample APA paper and tips for avoiding plagiarism. The left-hand menu has guidance for both in-text citations and the references list at the end of your paper.

Automatically Creating Citations in Library Article Collections

Many databases and article collections, plus many e-books, will automatically create citations for whichever article or chapter you are viewing.

Look for a “Cite,” “CiteNow,” or “Cite This Item” button on the database record for the specific article or chapter. (Not all databases have this feature. For example, LexisNexis does not.)

Examples of citation buttons:

     EBSCOhost databases                      ProQuest databases                                JSTOR (e.g., Academic Search Premier)                  (e.g, Newsstand)

APA style requires that a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) be included in your citation, if available. To see if a journal article has been assigned a DOI, you can look it up on CrossRef or Ask a Librarian .

For more information about the DOI system, see http://www.doi.org .

• << Previous: Managing Sources
• Last Updated: Nov 13, 2023 9:32 AM
• URL: https://libguides.usu.edu/educationlitreview

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

• UWF Libraries

Literature Review: Conducting & Writing

• Sample Literature Reviews
• Steps for Conducting a Lit Review
• Finding "The Literature"
• Organizing/Writing
• APA Style This link opens in a new window
• Chicago: Notes Bibliography This link opens in a new window
• MLA Style This link opens in a new window

Sample Lit Reviews from Communication Arts

Have an exemplary literature review.

• Literature Review Sample 1
• Literature Review Sample 2
• Literature Review Sample 3

Have you written a stellar literature review you care to share for teaching purposes?

Are you an instructor who has received an exemplary literature review and have permission from the student to post?

Please contact Britt McGowan at [email protected] for inclusion in this guide. All disciplines welcome and encouraged.

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• Next: Get Help! >>
• Last Updated: Mar 22, 2024 9:37 AM
• URL: https://libguides.uwf.edu/litreview

POSC 325: Political Analysis: Literature Review Tips

• Research Question Development
• Literature Review Tips
• Article Searching
• Book Searching
• Citation Style

The Literature Review

The literature review is meant to serve as preliminary research,  conducted before you write a research paper. You conduct this review of the literature after you develop a topic  that interests you, and before you solidify your position . It is both a  summary and a general timeline  of research done on the subject you're about to discuss in detail. Essentially, you're trying to:

• Determine what's already been written on a topic
• Evaluate what's already been written on a topic
• Identify gaps that haven't been heavily researched
• Join into the conversation that's already been started by other scholars

When Preparing to Write:

• Identify the most  significant studies and scholars  concerning your topic or research question. Read the works carefully and consistently and take notes
• State the  central research questions  investigated by scholars, the  key concepts , and  hypotheses advanced,  and their  methodological strengths and weaknesses
• Identify  significant trends or patterns  in the results of the studies
• Identify any  gaps  you may find in the literature - questions left unexplored, concepts or theories misused, or methodological errors made
• Think about how the  studies all fit together
• Summarize  the state of the field for this research topic

When  Writing :

• Describe the  topic or problem area . Note why the topic is important and why it is worth studying
• Identify the  research question  you are investigating or the hypothesis you are testing
• Discuss how the  previous work  (that is, its findings, methods, trends, and theories) sets the stage for your own research
• Discuss how your research effort is  similar to  or  differs from  previous ones
• Discuss what you  plan to do  in your research paper
• Write the  literature review  in an essay format with proper citations and a bibliography

Sections to Include in Your Literature Review:

• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Model and Hypothesis
• Research Design

Literature Review Source Template

Literature Review Example [Purdue Owl]

Checklist Companion to Text

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• Next: Article Searching >>
• Last Updated: Aug 24, 2023 1:02 PM
• URL: https://libguides.manchester.edu/posc325

Writing Center

• What to Read
• Managing Time to Read
• Retain What You Read
• How to Read and Understand a Rubric
• How to Read a Journal Article
• How to Take Notes
• Schedule Time For Success
• Choosing a Topic
• Researching Your Topic with OneSearch
• Searching Effectively
• NoteTaking for Research
• Organize Your Writing
• Using Resources
• Plagiarism This link opens in a new window
• Revising and Editing
• Writing Examples
• Graduate Writing Resources
• APA Formatting and Style (7th ed.) for Student Papers This link opens in a new window
• Grammarly - your writing assistant
• Brainfuse Online Tutoring - Writing

Writing Examples with Directions or Explanations

• Reflective Essay
• Research Paper
• Case Study Analysis
• Legal Case Brief
• Legal Memorandum
• Annotated Bibliography
• Business Email and Reports
• Business Letters
• Literature Review
• Reflective Essay An example of a reflective essay.
• Sample Paper APA 7th ed. Our APA sample paper shows you how to format the main parts of a basic research paper.
• APA 7th Sample Papers from Purdue Owl
• Side by Side Drafts Compare side by side first and second drafts to see what was revised and why.
• Sample Papers Formatted in 7th edition APA Style This page from the APA Style Blog includes an annotated student sample paper and a sample literature review student paper template.
• Case Study Analysis How to create a case study analysis for business or healthcare.
• Legal Case Brief Template This document shows you the format for setting up a legal case brief.
• Legal Memorandum Template Use this template for your NAU Legal Research and Writing courses.
• Annotated Bibliography/APA Format Video from Smart Student by Chelsea Seburn. Learn how to format an annotated bibliography and review certain parts of articles to determine which ones to read in-depth, and identify the three types of annotated bibliographies.(14m, 48 s)
• APA 7th ed. Annotated Bibliography Sample An example of an APA 7th ed. annotated bibliography
• Annotated Bibliography Sample Annotated Bibliography APA 7th Edition from Excelsior OWL
• Annotated Bibliography - Definitions, Explanation, and Format From Purdue OWL
• Annotated Bibliography Breakdown From Purdue OWL
• Annotated Bibliography Examples From Purdue OWL
• Sample Memo Basic business memo example from Purdue OWL.
• Memos: General Introduction (OWL)
• Memos: Audience and Purpose (OWL)
• Memos: Parts of a Memo (OWL)
• Memos: Format (OWL)
• Email Etiquette Topics include how to compose an email to someone you don't know, the types of information that should not be sent in an email, and guidelines for sending attachments.
• Writing an Effective Business Email This video from GCFLearnFree.org will include information on the basics of a business email, writing and revising the email, and examples of a business email. (2 m, 16s)
• Writing a Powerful Business Report This video includes information on the basics of a business report, the structure of a business report, revising a business report, and examples of business reports. (2 m, 16s)
• General Guidelines for Business Writing (OWL)
• Writing the Basic Business Letter Purdue OWL sets out the parts of a business letter and includes an example with standard margins, spacing, and indentation.
• Sample Business Letters (OWL)
• Literature Review Student Paper Template Scroll down this page from the APA Style Blog for a Literature Review Student Paper template.
• Literature Reviews This webpage from Excelsior Owl explains the purpose and content of a literature review. It also contains a short presentation on the basic steps to writing a literature review.
• Literature Review Example APA 7th Edition Scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the Literature Review sample.
• Writing a Literature Review As noted in this resource from Purdue Online Writing Lab, the "lit review" is important in many subject disciplines. It is a document that collects the important sources on a topic and discusses those sources in relation to each other (synthesis).
• What is a Literature Review? Start your Literature Review by following Brown University's Research Steps and then its "Evaluate the Information" Steps.
• << Previous: Revising and Editing
• Next: Graduate Writing Resources >>
• Last Updated: Apr 4, 2024 10:22 AM
• URL: https://national.libguides.com/encenter

• Research Guides

Writing Literature Reviews

• Literature Review Overview
• Organizing Your Lit Review
• Tips for Writing Your Lit Review

Need Assistance?

Find your librarian, schedule a research appointment, today's hours : , what is a literature review.

A literature review ought to be a clear, concise synthesis of relevant information. A literature review should introduce the study it precedes and show how that study fits into topically related studies that already exist. Structurally, a literature review ought to be something like a funnel: start by addressing the topic broadly and gradually narrow as the review progresses.

from Literature Reviews by CU Writing Center

Why review the literature?

Reference to prior literature is a defining feature of academic and research writing. Why review the literature?

• To help you understand a research topic
• To establish the importance of a topic
• To help develop your own ideas
• To make sure you are not simply replicating research that others have already successfully completed
• To demonstrate knowledge and show how your current work is situated within, builds on, or departs from earlier publications

from Literature Review Basics from University of La Verne

Tips & Tricks

Before writing your own literature review, take a look at these resources which share helpful tips and tricks:

Lectures & Slides

• Literature Reviews | CU Writing Center
• Writing a Literature Review | CU Writing Center
• Revising a Literature Review | CU Writing Center
• Literature Reviews: How to Find and Do Them
• Literature Reviews: An Overview

How-To Guides

• Literature Reviews | Purdue OWL
• Literature Reviews | University of North Carolina
• Learn How to Write a Review of Literature | University of Wisconsin
• Literature Review: The What, Why and How-to Guide | University of Connecticut
• Literature Reviews | Florida A & M
• Conduct a Literature Review | SUNY
• Literature Review Basics | University of LaVerne

Sample Literature Reviews

• Sample Literature Reviews | University of West Florida
• Sample APA Papers: Literature Review | Purdue OWL
• Next: Organizing Your Lit Review >>
• Last Updated: Apr 24, 2020 3:12 PM
• URL: https://libguides.cedarville.edu/c.php?g=969394

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